Thursday 12th Feb, 2008 - a night to remember

Oh what a night! Unfortunately, there was a massive dump of snow over the midlands at about 6pm, so about 10 people didn't make it. That left a crowd of about 35 or so lucky, lucky people.

• Stu Wilde, who I've now ascertained is 6'9", was compering the night, and served us admirably all night with a mixture of anecdote and rapport. Later on, he also dealt very well with slightly delayed arrivals of the acts - but these things happen.
• Hal Cruttenden was first up. Having had about an hour to prepare (at least someone was early for once), he proved why he is touted as one of the best comedians working in the UK today. The audience were a little cool at first, unsure of how to act with too many empty seats in the room, but Hal soon got them going. Brilliant stuff - among my favourite moments was describing the person he appears to have swapped voices with. During the break after his act people were asking me, "haven't I seen him on the telly?" etc. I think they'll remember his name this time.
• A quick break, then Stu gave us a little more until Ryan Gough arrived, "fresh" from a student gig in Oadby. I would like to think we were a little closer to his target audience than the students. It certainly came over that way. For those that have seen Ryan before, you'll know that his humour comes more from the diverse life he seems to have led, and the curious jobs he's had, together with some bizarre work he has done in the advertising industry! His STD (dialling codes, not VD) knowledge was barely put to the test, and Newport (Isle of Wight) didn't even raise a sweat.
• Another little break for the audience to gain sustenance, followed by Stu introducing his mate from Lincoln, Louie Werth. Louie claims not to have been doing stand-up for terribly long (less than a year, if memory serves), but I think he's got some serious potential. He certainly didn't look out of place amongst "the big boys" (literally and metaphorically), and delivered some seriously big laughs. Nice one!
• Another 10 minutes of impromptu filling from Stu kept the audience well entertained until the arrival of Tom Wrigglesworth. Tom delivered nearly 45 minutes of pure comedy genius. My eyes and brain were literally hurting from laughing too much. A massive range of subjects, and huge range of comedy techniques, all delivered impeccably by this ranging, quiet young man. I have no idea how we are going to top this night of comedy.

I tell a lie - I have one idea. Next month, on March 19th, we are scheduled to see the coruscant line-up of Junior Simpson, Jon Richardson and Milton Jones. Don't ask how, just come along and be a witness to the finest line-up of comedy ever assembled in one shed.